that there must
be no loud talking or playing of instruments in hotels after 10--an
edict for which I feel profoundly grateful. Signs of peaceful
penetration are to be found everywhere. The samovar (urn for making
tea) has become an institution in Galician hotels. The main street is
pervaded by small boys selling Russian newspapers or making a good
thing out of cleaning the high Russian military 'sapogee' (top boots).
They get five cents for a penny paper and ninepence or a shilling for
boot-blacking, but considering the mud of Galicia (I have been up to
my boot tops--that is, up to my knees--in it), the charge is not too
heavy, especially if the unusual dearness of living be taken into
account.

[Illustration: The Russian Offensive in Galicia.]

"Very gay this main street is of an afternoon, crowded with officers,
who come in from the trenches to enjoy life. A very pleasant lot of
young fellows they are, and very easily pleased. One I met invited me
to midday tea in his bombproof shelter in a forward trench. I accepted
gratefully and found him a charmingly gay host. He took a childlike
pleasure in showing me all the conveniences he had fitted up, and kept
on saying, 'Ah, how comfortable and peaceful it is here,' with the
sound of rifle shots and hand grenade and mine explosions in our ears
all the time.

"From highest to lowest, almost all the Russian officers I have met
are friendly and unassuming. The younger ones are delightful. There is
no drink to be had here, and therefore no foolish, tipsy loudness or
quarreling among them."

On June 18, 1916, further progress and additional large captures of
Austro-Hungarian and German prisoners were reported by the Russian
armies fighting in Volhynia, Galicia, and the Bukowina. However, both
the amount of ground gained and the number of prisoners taken were
very much slighter than had been the case during the earlier part of
the Russian offensive. This was due to the fact that the armies of the
Central Powers had received strong reenforcements and had apparently
succeeded in strengthening their new positions and in stiffening their
resistance. Powerful counterattacks were launched at many points.

One of these, according to the Russian official statement, was of
special vigor. It was directed against General Brussilov's armies
which were attempting to advance toward Lemberg, in the region of the
village of Rogovitz to the southwest of Lokatchi, about four miles to
the s